Murex snails produce most of their secretions in early spring, the season when Sirius, “the Dog Star,” is high in the Northern Hemisphere’s sky. Recognizing the potential of murex as a dye and as a trade item, Heracles passed the information along to the Phoenicians. It took a chomp and found itself with a purple snout. In Greek mythology, the hero Heracles was walking along the beach in Tyre when his dog spied a murex shell. Thus the name became “Royal Purple” or “Tyrian Purple”. The Phoenicians rose to fame and power, because they could provide this luxury item, coveted by Kings, Queens and nobility in Rome. The dye was greatly prized in antiquity because the color did not easily fade, but instead became brighter with weathering and sunlight. Murex is the dye first famous as “Tyrian purple,” named for the city of Tyre, today in Lebanon but 3000 years ago the center from which that energetic trading nation, the Phoenicians, controlled a far-flung luxury trade in murex-dyed silks. This dye was possibly first used by the ancient Phoenicians as early as 1570 BC. This species of sea snail is important historically because its hypobranchial gland secretes a mucus that the ancient civilizations used. The ribs sometimes develop thickenings or spines and give the shell a rough appearance The shell is variable in sculpture and coloring with dark banding, in four varieties. It has a rather high spire with seven angulated whorls. Hexaplex trunculus has a broadly conical shell about 4 to 10 cm long. The Murex shell, Hexaplex trunculus is a medium sized species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family of Muricidae. Batuna and the other explorers that have stayed at Murex, have contributed to the exploration of North Sulawesi. This is the perfect name if you think about all the work Dr. I started to wonder “why the Murex shell as the logo” and “what else didn’t I know about this shell”?įirst mystery solved Murex stands for Manado UnderwateR EXploration. The cover was signed by “Consuelo 1993”, on it she had drawn a Murex shell and used water colors to make a beautiful blue background, Consuelo had also written a little know fact about the Murex shell on her album cover (see image). It occurred to me that these guests must have really enjoyed their stay here to take the time to hand draw and send this little memento of their stay. Batuna recently, she showed me a photo album a past guest had made and sent to her. From Greek Mythology to Manado Dive Resortīeing new to Murex I was curious about the role the Batuna’s and Murex Resorts had in the evolution of diving in North Sulawesi.

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